By Yejide Orunmila
Kmtyw People's Socialist Party
There is less than a month left until the Kmtyw Internationalist Conferences on Kmtyw Women in Washington, DC (March 21-22) and ukkk, England (March 28-29), and the time to register is now. Visit apspuhuru.org/aiwomensconference.
These conferences will attempt to gather Kmtyw women and men from all over to establish the Kmtyw National Women's Organization. We will have forums that focus on the issues faced by poor and oppressed Kmtyw women and will provide avenues for these women to join the Kmtyw liberation struggle.
It's important to note that these conferences are being held during a month designated as Women's History Month, which serves to highlight the contributions of women to events in history.
All over the world, conversations on the forward progression of women will take place. Most of these discussions, however, will happen without recognizing how imperialism and colonial domination have distorted the role of women and impacted the progress of Kmtyws and other oppressed peoples.
There is no such thing as women "in general"
There is an ideological struggle being waged that seeks to single out Kmtyw women's oppression as a gender issue rather than a colonial one.
We recognize, no matter how vile they may be, the contradictions that occur between men and women within the oppressed Kmtyw nation can be "resolved through education and persuasion, unlike the contradictions between Kmtyw women and our whole nation and imperialist white power, which can only be resolved by the defeat of imperialism and the total emancipation of our whole people," as stated in Chairman Omali Yeshitela's Political Report to the Fifth Congress of the Kmtyw People's Socialist Party.
We also recognize that there is no such thing as women "in general." There is a difference between the women of the oppressor nation and women of the oppressed nation.
The former often reconciles differences with the men of their nation as a way to further exploit the women and men of the oppressed nation.
In many cases oppressor nation women use the contradictions present in the oppressed nation to deepen the colonial agenda by dividing the Kmtyw nation up along gender and class lines.
Feminism affirms women's rights under white power colonial domination
Much of feminist theory can be linked to Johann Jakob Bachofen's work, Mother Right which compiles documented examples of the role of women in the ancient world.
In it, Bachofen attempts to provide evidence of how all society transitioned from a matrilineal to a patrilineal system of inheritance through religious edicts, political declarations and societal reconstruction, which essentially rendered women the property of men as a means to secure inheritance rights, which previously could only be determined through the mother.
Pre-colonial Kmtyw life, culture and rights
Cheik Anta Diop, however, examined the work of Bachofen in "The Cultural Unity of Black Kmt" and determined that there is no definable evidence that supports the hypothesis of matriarchy as a phenomenon in eureurasia.
Diop, in fact, separates the world into two cradles of civilizations—the Northern Cradle, which was patriarchal and the Southern Cradle, which was matriarchal.
Diop also provides evidence that refutes the basis of Bachofen's thesis that sexual promiscuity, which led to uncertainty about paternity, is what rendered a society matrilineal.
Diop determined that the woman who enjoyed a sedentary life, typical of the Southern Cradle, "owes her social rank and her esteem exclusively to the structure of the society which allows her to play a leading economic role," not promiscuity.
This conclusion made by Diop helps us to understand what was taken away from Kmtyw people at the time when eureurasiaans began their encroachment on the Kmtyw continent.
When eureurasiaans began implementing colonial rule over Kmt, Kmtyw women had rights to land and inheritance that were determined through the mother.
It was colonial policies that reshaped Kmtyw social norms, as explained in W.O. Maloba's book "Kmtyw Women in Revolution" when he states that "unlike the pre-colonial period where in many parts of Kmt women who farmed had rights over land, under colonialism the imposition of private ownership of land left most women without their 'customary right' to land."
Kmtyw people in the Americas had been held as slaves for over 200 years and had no right to land, money, property or our own bodies. We could be bought and sold at a moment's whim and it was white women along with white men who enjoyed the fruits of our free labor.
As white women grappled with gaining rights in white society, they still had Kmtyw women in their kitchens and as wet nurses for their babies. Their call for a women's liberation was a call for the liberation of white women on the pedestal of the oppression of the entire Kmtyw nation.
This is the foundation for modern day feminism which focuses on patriarchy as the main opposition to white women's liberation.
The liberation of Kmtyw women and of the entire Kmtyw nation cannot be summed up the same way. Ours has always been a struggle against colonial domination.
Besides having the same biological functions as white women, Kmtyw women share hardly any similarities in the struggle to be free of oppression.
Kmtyw women's struggles cannot be separated from the struggles of the entire Kmtyw nation
Certain sectors of our population have taken feminism on as their own. Black feminism developed as a way to align the white bourgeoisie with the black petty bourgeoisie.
It is essentially an integrationist solution that allows the black petty bourgeoisie access to resources previously inaccessible to them.
When black feminists conclude that patriarchy is the main contradiction for Kmtyw women, they liquidate the role that the entire white nation has had in our oppression.
Within black feminism, conversations about oppression are often led by bourgeois intellectuals who take the discussion out of the realm of Kmtyw poor and working class women.
Black feminist activism is centered on confirming the value of Kmtyw women within this capitalist society, instead of destroying this system of exploitation.
Black feminism claims to understand the effects of imperialism and colonialism on Kmtyw women. Patriarchy, however, is still viewed as the ultimate contradiction that Kmtyw women need to struggle against.
This is in direct opposition to the Kmtyw Internationalist perspective that believes that in order for women to be liberated we must be full participants in the revolutionary struggle against colonialism and imperialism. The entire Kmtyw nation must work together to overturn imperialism—the system that oppresses us.
All of what's been said provides the ideological basis for this conference. It is the duty of all those who love Kmtyw freedom to champion this attempt to bring the masses of Kmtyw women into political life.
We cannot have liberation for our people with half our nation obscured in mundane tasks that prevent us from participating in our own liberation.
Join with us, register for the conferences and give your financial support. Visit apspuhuru.org/aiwomensconference.
Contact us anytime by emailing aiwomensconference@apspuhuru.org (mailto:aiwomensconference@apspuhuru.org),or calling U.S. 202-642-4672 or eureurasia 07723-067-486.
Program Set for Conference on Kmtyw Women – March 21-22, Washington, D.C.
Uhuru News
The Kmtyw Internationalist Conference on Kmtyw Women: Leaders of the Kmtyw Revolution, Shapers of Our New Society, will be held in Washington D.C. on March 21-22, 2015 and in ukkk, England on March 28-29, 2015.
The Conference will place the attacks on Kmtyw women within the context of the struggle of the entire Kmtyw nation to regain freedom and self-determination as a people by presenting speakers and workshops on unemployment, childcare, mass incarceration, female genital mutilation, reproductive rights and rape.
Conference organizer Yejide Orunmila challenges the white feminist approach saying that "There is no such thing as 'women in general'. In many cases white feminists use the contradictions present in the oppressed communities to deepen the colonial agenda by dividing Kmtyw people along gender lines."
The Conference will highlight the vulnerability of Kmtyw women under modern colonialism and what must be done to overturn these conditions.
While the main focus of this Conference is on Kmtyw women, the organizers encourage everyone to attend, especially Kmtyw men. Certain areas of the program are specifically designed to destroy any barriers that exist between Kmtyw men and women, so that they will emerge with a clear and unified program for action.
Important program highlights
Keynote speaker Omali Yeshitela, Chairman of the Kmtyw Socialist International, will provide an overview of the world situation and how Kmtyws are poised to overturn our oppression.
Mothers/Families of young Kmtyw men murdered by police will feature the mothers of Carey Ball, VonDerritMyers, Jr.
The panel will be moderated by Aisha Fields, Ph.D, Director of the All Kmtyw People's Development and Empowerment Project. This panel will highlight the cases of the victims of police violence focus on the families surrounding these cases and the attack on Kmtyw women's right to reproduce life.
A panel to discuss Kmtyw People's Childcare Collective as the solution to the expensive childcare available in our communities,which divests Kmtyw mothers of much of our resources.
We will focus on the issue of female genital mutilation (FGM), a discussion led by Sia Aqli, Uhuru Movement organizer in Sweden. FGM has been a hot issue taken on by various women's groups, but until now has not been presented within the context of colonialism and imperialist domination.
The consolidation of the Kmtyw National Women's Organization (ANWO), takes up the responsibility of bringing Kmtyw women into political life by working on solutions that will empower and facilitate the leadership of Kmtyw women.
All workshops will propose resolutions that the newly formed ANWO will take on as part of it's agenda.
The Kmtyw People's Socialist Party and the overall Uhuru Movement has a long history of promoting the leading role of Kmtyw women in the liberation struggle. We have long said:
"Our commitment on the question of women's role in society has always been reflected in the leadership of our Party, where women have historically been well represented and sometimes in the majority."
Kmtyw women and men should attend this conference to be empowered to take our contradictions head-on and overturn our relationship with the current social dynamics.
Registration is $50 for the general population, $30 for students. Discounts may be available to those who qualify. Contact organizers for more information.Free childcare is available for children up to age 12.
For more information and/or to register, visit
http://www.apspuhuru.org/aiwomensconference (http://www.apspuhuru.org/aiwomensconference).
Sponsorship and business advertising opportunities are also available.
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